The Cleveland Advocate/Dayton News recently hosted a political forum at the Cleveland Civic Center. Candidates from the Liberty-Dayton area and county-wide candidates attended the event. Each candidate was given the opportunity for a two-minute introduction, asked two questions and then gave a one-minute closing statement. This week the candidates for district attorney and county attorney are featured, followed next week by the candidates for district attorney and other races.

The candidates for county attorney and district attorney are Republicans with no Democratic candidate vying for either position.

District Attorney

“I’m here to ask you for your vote for district attorney,” said Karen McNair. “I was taught that when you see a wrong, those that have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.”

McNair said that she has the background and experience to fill the position. She has been prosecuting crime since Jan. 2009 in the county attorney’s office and, on average, has prosecuted approximately 2,000 cases per year.

“As chief prosecutor, I’m responsible for making sure nothing falls through the cracks,” she said. “We also prosecute all of the juvenile cases in the county and I’m sorry to say that we have way too many felons that are under the age of 17. I have been practicing law for 30 years. I know how to prosecute and manage serious cases and I know how to manage a large caseload.”

According to McNair, there are approximately 700 felony cases pending in the two district courts in Liberty County.

“The district attorney’s office is provided with a $1.138 million budget for the district attorney, three investigators and five secretaries. The district attorney’s job is about management of prosecution and personnel,” said McNair. “Successful management includes coordination with all of the law enforcement in the county. I pledge to you to continue to be tough on crime and demand integrity and professionalism from everyone in the DA’s office.”

When it became his turn for an introduction, Logan Pickett started out by addressing his youthful looks.

“I’m 30 years old. You’re probably wondering, what is this kid doing up here? I can tell you for a fact that I have more experience handling matters in this office than my opponent does,” said Pickett. “Not to chide her at all, but when someone tells you they’re experienced, dig deeper.”

Pickett currently works as an assistant prosecutor in the district attorney’s office.

“I have had 30 felony jury trials. I’ve handled cases in the criminal court of appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas in criminal cases. I’ve put people in prison for the rest of their lives. I take my job very seriously. I think it’s very important to the DA to not be about moving cases but setting an example for the people of Liberty County that they know that there is someone at the courthouse willing to punish people and not just give them a slap on the wrist and send them back home. I make them aware that there will be 12 citizens that will judge them and put them in prison where they belong and protect you.”

Pickett said he doesn’t see the position as a administrative one.

“I don’t want to be an administrator. I want to be in the courtroom fighting for you. I love my job and I want to keep doing it. I want to keep protecting you and your children. I want my children to grow up knowing that there is someone in that courtroom with their best interest in heart putting people away.”

When it came time for questions, McNair was asked to describe the biggest challenge facing the DA’s office.

“I think one of the biggest challenges facing the DA’s office is a speedy trial,” she said. “Currently, we are running sometimes a year from date of offense, to indictment and sometimes a year from indictment to trial. Justice delayed is not justice. Defense attorneys are taught delay, delay delay. It creates holes in the state’s case. Witnesses’ memories fades, witnesses die. They move away. You have to move these cases forward in a more rapid rate and keep prosecutions going through the court system.”

Pickett was asked how he will address the issue of old cases, some of which are over 1,000 days old.

“We try them,” he said. “We do the same thing we are doing right now. If we are lucky, we get two jury trials a month. The only thing we can do is try them. The jails have about 75 pending felony cases.”

Pickett said that procedurally, he could go the next day and give probation for all of those in jail and get them out immediately.

“If you want a sex offender walking out, we can do it, but that is not what I’m going to do as district attorney,” he said. “We are going to try these cases. That is the way to get rid of these cases. The pressure has to come from the district attorney’s office.”

McNair was asked to describe her viewpoint on the death penalty.

“I support the death penalty,” she said. “There are evil people out there. They have no regard for human life and I will prosecute those people to the fullest extent of the law.”

Pickett was asked what improvements he would make to the DA’s office. He said that he would like to use more modern technology to streamline cases and shorten the amount of time police officers spend in the DA’s office so that they can be out patrolling streets.

“You have to stay on your people to work as efficiently as possible,” he said. “We are not going to get any more money. We have to do better with what we have. If we do our job efficiently, it’s best for all the citizens of Liberty County.”

McNair concluded by saying that the office of district attorney is complex.

“It requires the ability to manage a large staff and stability to manage a large docket and coordinate and work with all the law enforcement officials in the county,” she said. “It requires a seasoned and experienced litigator. Your district attorney must do the whole job. I know how to do all aspects of this job. I’m Karen McNair and I’m asking for your vote for district attorney.”

In his closing statements, Pickett said, “Growing up, thinking about what a district attorney is supposed to do, I didn’t think of someone sitting behind a desk. He was on the front lines doing whatever it takes to protect me. I will handle the administrative part because it handles itself if you have the right people in the job. There will be no micro-management every step of the way. The cases that mean the most need to be handled by the boss and that is what I will do. I will not have someone else do my job.”

County Attorney

Incumbent Wes Hinch took the stage alone at the forum as his opponent, James Farmer, did not attend. Farmer’s absence was noted by Hinch, who jokingly said, “I look forward to meeting my opponent some day.”

In his opening statements, Hinch talked about growing up in Liberty County.

“I opened a law office in Cleveland,” he said. “I have enjoyed serving as your county attorney since 2008. We have handled about 2,000 cases a year. We work hard. We have about 6,000 open warrants. We had about 8,000 when I took office. It takes time and manpower. I think we have given it a really strong effort. Integrity is a good part of what we do. The rules of my officer are to tell the truth, do your job and stay out of people’s business. I ask for you support.”

Hinch was asked what the biggest challenge facing the county attorney’s office besides funding.

“The biggest challenges we face are the diversity of duties of what we do for the county,” he said. “We handle a lot of different projects such as juvenile cases, the jail contract and things pop up like mental health warrants and protective orders. All of those things continually get elevated to the top of the pile.”

Hinch was asked about the procedures for responding to open records requests by the county.

He said a request for information is directed to the department head where the records are located. The county attorney becomes involved in regards to request by other offices or elected officials.

“There are only a few people that can request an AG (attorney general) opinion and the county attorney is one of them,” he said. “We only request an AG opinion if something should not be produced.”

Hinch said that the cost of the requests depends on what is being requested. Information on county servers, such as emails, costs more than copies of documents directly from his office which are usually free.

“We want to keep the people informed and transparent,” he said.

Next up: The Advocate/Dayton News will feature the candidates for Pct. 1 and 3 commissioner.